MyCRA Specialist Credit Repair Lawyers

Tag: Facebook

Banks Check Facebook To Stamp Out Liar Loans Catching Out Innocent Home Buyers In The Process

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Banks Check Facebook To Stamp Out Liar Loans Catching Out Innocent Home Buyers In The Process

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Liar Loans have been written about before, but did you know Banks are now trolling your Facebook and other Social Media spying on you without your consent?

This release highlights how a harmless joke on Facebook cost a young lady her chance at home-ownership – and it could happen to you too…

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They were dubbed liar loans, where loan applications inflated earnings and assets and underestimated debts and liabilities, for a large part, brokers copped the blame, but just as many borrowers fudged their figures too.

A UBS study completed last year estimated up to a third of investment loans may have had less than honest declarations in the applications, this was despite the Royal Commission into Banking.

But it seems now banks have wised up that not all loan applicants were being completely honest and lenders are going above and beyond to check you are being truthful on your loan application, according to leading consumer and financial law firm MyCRA Lawyers.

“It’s a case of the banks are sick of being blamed for everything that is wrong in the lending world, so they are now going to the next level of due diligence. Banks are so strict in following procedure, they are catching out people who didn’t even realise they had lied,” MyCRA Lawyers CEO Graham Doessel said.

Mortgage broker Wendy De Graaf says she recently had a client rejected for a loan after the lender checked the Facebook status of her flatmate that had, as a joke, put they were in a relationship together.

“My client is genuinely single but her friend had on their Facebook status that they were partners and the bank saw this information and rejected the loan because it didn’t match what was on her application.

“I was shocked when they told me the reason for the loan rejection, it’s meant my client has missed out on buying her first home, Ms DeGraaf said.

“What’s even crazier is my client is a lesbian and her flatmate is male, but he did gift her some funds towards her deposit which is why the bank has looked at his social media as part of their investigation into approving the loan.

“There may be a lot more people being rejected because of what is on their social media and they don’t know it, the only reason I found out is because I had known the business development manager at the bank for so long and they told me about the social media status issue,” Ms De Graaf said.

Mr Doessel said your bank statements tell a story about you too, and if you don’t estimate your expenses correctly and the bank sees a different story in your expenditure, then you should expect to get rejected.

“There have even been stories where, as a joke, people transfer money to a friend and describe the transaction as a ‘sexual service’ even though it was their half of a dinner bill and the bank has seen the transaction and viewed it poorly when it came to approving a loan,” Mr Doessel said.

“Excessive use of food delivery services like Uber Eats, take away restaurants and online gambling will go against most people who apply for a loan.

“While the Royal Commission may have seemed like a free for all kick at the bank, in reality, a lot of it reflected poorly on borrowers too. Now banks not only are cracking down on their own behaviour but also customers which means it’s getting tougher for all of us to get finance,” he said.

So you can make sure you’re honest on your finance application, check you have clean credit by starting at www.FreeCreditRating.com.au – it’s free and knowing your data in advance could save you thousands in additional interest. If you get stuck, MyCRA Lawyers also offers a free Credit File Analysis and Explanation Service to help you make sense of your credit reports.

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10/09/2020
Identity theft at their fingertips: Fraudsters and Social Media

Media Release

Identity theft at their fingertips:

Fraudsters and Social Media

5 June 2014

As identity theft numbers increase in Australia, a consumer credit advocate shows how easy it can be for fraudsters to commit identity theft using social media, warning there are too many Australians disregarding their personal information, and leaving themselves wide open to identity theft and credit rating misuse.

Graham Doessel, who is a Non-Legal Director of MyCRA Lawyers, a firm focused on credit dispute, says social media users who don’t opt in and maintain strong Privacy settings are ‘sitting ducks’ for fraudsters.

“Fraudsters are trolling Social Media and other internet sites right now, looking for those consumers who are free and easy with their personal information,” Mr Doessel warns.

“If you don’t strengthen your Privacy settings you run a grave risk – it’s not just the risk of having your account hacked, it’s the risk of having your identity stolen and having crime, including credit fraud, committed in your name.”

Mr Doessel says the reason Facebook and other social media are so tantalising for fraudsters, is because many of the building blocks for identity theft are laid out.

“If your Privacy settings aren’t secure your personal information is right at the fingertips of fraudsters,” he says.

In order to obtain a birth certificate in Australia, a full name, date of birth, father’s name, mother’s maiden name, place of birth, and residential address are required.

Mr Doessel says this can all be freely available on many social media profiles.

“The other day I went on to a popular social media site, to see how easy it could be to obtain information. The frightening thing is, within five minutes of browsing a ‘random’ name, I was able to get four points of the information required on this person, and have a pretty good guess at the fifth. By simply changing the address, a fraudster could have a red-hot go at obtaining a birth certificate in this person’s name,” he says.

Mr Doessel says other random browses proved to be similarly forthcoming, particularly amongst men using social media.

“Women seemed to safeguard their information much better than the men I came across, begging the suggestion that women are much savvier when it comes to social media Privacy,” he says.

His warnings come as part of Stay Smart Online Awareness Week 2014, a national education campaign aimed at helping Australians using the internet understand the simple steps they can take to protect their personal and financial information online.

“We are raising awareness of some simple ways Australians can stay smart with their credit rating. Smart Facebook and other social media use have got to be number one,” he says.

He is urging Australian users of social media to take some simple steps to protect the privacy of their profiles:

Staying Smart on Facebook

1. Don’t share too much, remember your personal information is valuable – and often once you’ve posted something online – it’s permanent.

2. Install and maintain strong Privacy settings on social media.

3. Change passwords regularly and use different passwords for different sites.

4. Put a password on your mobile device.

5. Don’t ‘friend’ someone you don’t know.

6. Be wary about the type of requests, emails and attachments you click on.

According to a recent Australian Institute of Criminology Identity crime and misuse survey, identity theft has increased to 1 in 10 Australians affected. 14 per cent of those victims were refused credit as a result.

“Identity theft can lead to loans or other credit being taken out in the victim’s name, and often the victims don’t even know they’ve succumbed to identity theft until they’re refused credit themselves,” Mr Doessel says.

He says recovery can be painstaking because the victim needs to prove they didn’t instigate the credit in the first place, but often necessary due to the victim being locked out of credit for between 5 and 7 years.

“Identity theft can be really hard to prove, especially if the victim has no idea how their personal information was obtained in the first place. Police reports and large amounts of documentary evidence are generally required to substantiate to creditors the case of identity theft, but to those experiencing this, it’s a point worth fighting for,” he says.

/ENDS.

Please contact: Graham Doessel – Non-Legal Director MyCRA Lawyers Ph 3124 7133

Lisa Brewster – Media Liaison MyCRA Lawyers media@mycralawyers.com.au

www.mycralawyers.com.au www.mycralawyers.com.au/blog www.mycralawyers.com.au/mediacentre

MyCRA Lawyers 246 Stafford Rd, STAFFORD Qld Ph 07 3124 7133

About MyCRA Lawyers: MyCRA Lawyers is an Incorporated Legal Practice focused on credit file consultancy and credit disputes. MyCRA Lawyers means business when it comes to helping those disadvantaged by credit rating mistakes.

Image: Gualberto107/ www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

05/06/2014
Children targeted for clean credit history

An interesting story just out of the United States on ID theft attempts on the credit files of children. Whilst Australia has vastly different laws when it comes to children and credit history, we want to share this story with you, to show that children are targets for fraudsters – and to explain what the dangers may be for our Australian children when it comes to fraudsters and their credit file.

By Graham Doessel, Founder and CEO of MyCRA Credit Rating Repair and www.fixmybadcredit.com.au.

An alarming report by ABC 2 WBay last week ‘ID Thieves Targeting Children’s Clean Credit History’, revealed that children and adolescents have become the fastest growing sector of identity theft victims in the United States. In the U.S., children are allocated a Social Security number from birth, and it is this number that fraudsters are using to steal the identities of their young victims, and take credit out in their name. Here is an excerpt from that story:

Experts warn from the time your child gets a Social Security number, their personal information needs to be protected.

“Be aware of how your children’s personal information is used just like your own information–Social Security number, and date of birth–be aware of how it is being used,” says Jim Walsh, U.S. Postal Inspector.

In a recent case, more than 500 elementary school kids in Los Angeles had their information compromised. A suspect with access to school files sold the kids’ personal information to another suspect.

“There were hundreds of accounts opened and most of the accounts were used to get money,” said Walsh.

The suspects withdrew cash advances, or they would sell the names to make fake IDs.

Postal inspectors say children have clean credit histories, which makes them appealing to criminals.

“If they apply for a loan or try to get credit, they could find out their credit is basically ruined and wouldn’t know it the whole time they are growing up,” said Walsh.

That’s why it’s important to periodically check your child’s credit.

Unlike the U.S. system, Australian children don’t have a social security number, so they are protected from any immediate identity theft. But what Australian Police have been concerned about in the past is that children are still targets for fraudsters due to their clean credit history, but instead of using personal information straight away as in cases in the U.S. it may be being stored or ‘warehoused’ until the child turns 18.

The main area Police have been concerned about is Facebook – which remains incredibly popular with children, and gives them the option to openly share their personal information on the internet.

The Australian Federal Police’s national co-ordinator of identity security strike team, Ben McQuillan spoke about the dangers of identity crime as far back as 2011 at a forum in Sydney on money laundering and terrorism.

He warned listeners about what was then a new trend of ‘warehousing’ which involves storing data for a time, making it harder for a victim or bank to trace where and when the data was stolen.

”If people know your full name, your date of birth, where you went to school and other lifestyle issues, and they were to warehouse that data, there is a prospect that could then be used to take out loans or credit cards or to create a bank account that could then be used to launder money,” Mr McQuillan told the Sydney Morning Herald.

This warning was echoed by Queensland Fraud Squad’s Superintendant Brian Hay, who warned that criminals were targeting the personal information of our young Facebook users.

Supt Hay said criminals had been known to be storing the personal information of children around the world in databases to be used when they turn 18 and are able to take out credit.

“We know that the crooks have been data warehousing identity information, we know that they’ve been building search engines to profile and build identities,” he told Channel 7’s Sunrise program in October 2011.

“We need to tell our children if you surrender your soul, if you surrender your identity to the internet it could come back to bite you in a very savage way years down the track,” he said.

This data warehousing could leave the newly credit active young person blacklisted from credit well into their 20’s. For 5 years they are locked out of credit, refused cards, loans, even mobile phones. It need not be major fraud to be a massive blow to the identity theft victim. Unpaid accounts for as little as $100 can have the same negative impact on someone’s ability to obtain credit as a missed mortgage payment. So any misuse of someone’s credit file can be extremely significant.

Proving the case of identity theft when attempting to recover a clear credit rating is already difficult for the individual to undertake, as the onus is on the victim to prove to creditors they didn’t initiate the credit. Adding to that the fact that the perpetrator would be long gone with the actual act of identity theft happening years earlier – and those young people will have a very difficult task of recovery indeed.

So how can we protect our children? In the same way we may protect our own identity and credit file.

It begins with taking an active role in children’s computer use, and realising that their personal information is just as coveted as our own. Perhaps even more so – as the likelihood the child will have a clean credit history to begin with is even higher.

Image: imagerymajestic/ www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

27/08/2013
Safer Internet Day: Protect your child’s identity online

Media Release

Safer Internet Day: Protect your child’s identity online

5 February 2013

On Safer Internet Day, parents and carers need to know their kids may be risking their identity and future credit rating by posting volumes of personal information to open forums and other sites, a consumer advocate for accurate credit reporting warns.

“The harsh reality is if you’re a young person in Australia today you are not immune to identity fraud. Even though you are not yet credit active the personal information you make public today could be used against you in the future,” CEO of MyCRA Credit Repair, Graham Doessel says.

‘Cybersmart’ hosts Safer Internet Day today, with this year’s theme being ‘Connect with Respect’, encouraging people to think about their ‘Online Rights and Responsibilities’.[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][i]

More than 22,000 students are participating today in Cybersmart’s online safety presentations, 1500 kids are playing Cybersmart Challenge games and Cybersmart is also broadcasting live and online all over the world from 5pm-8pm tonight.

The website educates young people, their teachers and carers about how to stay safe and stay smart online, touching on issues like cyber-bullying, online predators, and identity theft with an emphasis on understanding the potential consequences of online behaviour.

Mr Doessel says identity theft is still a risk for under 18’s, and many young people and their parents don’t know the dangers of having a public ‘profile’ on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

“A public profile is a big risk for anyone at any age. With the volume of personal information contained there, fraudsters can use that information to create an identity in your name, and even take out credit,” he says.

In late 2011, Identity expert Ben McQuillan of the Australian Federal Police warned people about the new trend of ‘warehousing’ which involves storing data for a time, making it harder for a victim or bank to trace where and when the data was stolen.

”If people know your full name, your date of birth, where you went to school and other lifestyle issues, and they were to warehouse that data, there is a prospect that could then be used to take out loans or credit cards or to create a bank account that could then be used to launder money,” McQuillan told the Sydney Morning Herald.[ii]

This warning was echoed by Queensland Fraud Squad’s Superintendant Brian Hay, who warned that criminals were targeting the personal information of our young Facebook users.

Supt Hay said criminals had been known to be storing the personal information of children around the world in databases to be used when they turn 18 and are able to take out credit.

“We know that the crooks have been data warehousing identity information, we know that they’ve been building search engines to profile and build identities,” he told Channel 7’s Sunrise program in October 2011.[iii]

“We need to tell our children if you surrender your soul, if you surrender your identity to the internet it could come back to bite you in a very savage way years down the track,” he said.

Mr Doessel says identity theft is not only about the initial loss of monies, but if the fraud amounts to credit accounts in the young victim’s name going undetected and unpaid past 60 days, creditors will issue defaults.

“It need not be major fraud to have a detrimental effect. Credit file defaults for as little as $100 can stop someone from being able to obtain credit for 5 years. So any damage, however small to someone’s credit file can be extremely significant,” he says.

He says the onus is on the victim to prove to creditors they didn’t initiate the credit.

“The fact that the perpetrator is long gone and the actual act of identity theft happened years earlier will only add to the difficulty for the young person in recovering their good name,” he says.

Experts recommend parents and young people continue to update their skills on how to be cyber-smart.

Mr Doessel says parents and young people should remember 5 Key Tips for Safeguarding Personal Information:

1. Keep privacy settings private. Your profile on sites like Facebook should be kept Private, and it’s a good idea to check your settings from time to time to make sure it stays that way. This makes it harder for crooks to find your personal information.

2. Use passwords. Use strong passwords online, regularly changing them. You should also do the same for your smartphone. Stay one step ahead of hackers.

3. What you post may be permanent. Every piece of information you post – no matter how secure you think it may be – may show up again one day.

4. Your personal information should be guarded at all times. Personal information is the gateway to identity theft. How secure is the site you are using? Think – if it’s not necessary – do you really need to give it out or post it?

5. Careful who you ‘friend’. Crooks can scan the internet requesting ‘friendships’ on sites like Facebook – but they may not be after friendship but your personal information. If you don’t know the person who is sending you the friend request, check their profile – do they seem like a real person? Ask -why do they want to be my friend? If you’re unsure, ignore the request.

The cybersmart website http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/ has a range of multimedia educational resources.

/ENDS.

Please contact:

Graham Doessel – CEO MyCRA PH 3124 7133

Lisa Brewster – Media Relations media@mycra.com.au

http://www.mycra.com.au/ 246 Stafford Road, STAFFORD QLD.

Ph: 07 3124 7133

MyCRA Credit Repair is Australia’s number one in credit rating repairs. We permanently remove defaults from credit files.

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[i] http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_600164

[ii] http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/police-warn-of-sophisticated-plan-to-steal-identities-20111108-1n5l8.html#ixzz1dB4ctHcT

[iii] http://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/-/watch/26825601/child-identity-theft/

Image: Clare Bloomfield/ www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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05/02/2013
What you need to know about the internet to save your teenager’s future credit file

Media Release

What you need to know about the internet to save your teenager’s future credit file

Young Australians are putting their good credit rating at risk every time they post personal information publicly on the internet, even before they are ever credit active, a leading credit repairer warns.

“The harsh reality is if you’re a teenager in Australia today you are not immune to identity fraud. Even though you are not yet credit active the personal information you make public today could be used against you in the future,” CEO of MyCRA Credit Repairs, Graham Doessel says.

He says many teenagers do not know the risks of having a public ‘profile’ on sites like Facebook and Twitter, but fraudsters do.

“With the volume of personal information that is publicly available about our young people on social network sites, what’s to say fraudsters can’t pull that information and use it to build a profile that could allow them to create a fake identity?” he says.

Late last year, the Australian Federal Police’s national co-ordinator of identity security strike team, Ben McQuillan spoke about the dangers of identity crime at a forum on money laundering and terrorism.

He warned forum listeners about the new trend of ‘warehousing’ which involves storing data for a time, making it harder for a victim or bank to trace where and when the data was stolen.

”If people know your full name, your date of birth, where you went to school and other lifestyle issues, and they were to warehouse that data, there is a prospect that could then be used to take out loans or credit cards or to create a bank account that could then be used to launder money,” Mr McQuillan told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Mr Doessel says identity theft is not only about the initial loss of monies, but if the fraud amounts to credit accounts in the young victim’s name going undetected and unpaid past 60 days, creditors will issue defaults.

“It need not be major fraud to have a detrimental effect. Credit file defaults for as little as $100 can stop someone from being able to obtain credit for 5 years. So any misuse of someone’s credit file can be extremely significant,” he says.

He says the onus is on the victim to prove to creditors they didn’t initiate the credit.

“The fact that the perpetrator is long gone and the actual act of identity theft happened years earlier will only add to the difficulty for the young person in recovering their good name,” he says.

Experts recommend parents and young people continue to update their skills on how to be cyber-smart. The government’s ‘stay smart online’ website offers some top tips about using the internet which can be discussed with young people at home and school.

Top tips

Make sure your computer is secure-follow the advice in the Secure your computer section of this [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][stay smart online] website.

Set strong passwords, particularly for important online accounts and change them regularly-consider making a diary entry to remind yourself.

Stop and think before you share any personal or financial information-about you, your friends or family. Don’t disclose identity information (drivers licence, Medicare No, birth date, address) through email or online unless you have initiated the contact and you know the other person involved.

Don’t give your email address out without needing to. Think about why you are providing it, what the benefit is for you and whether it will mean you are sent emails you don’t want.

Be very suspicious of emails from people you don’t know, particularly if they promise you money, good health or a solution to all your problems. The same applies for websites. Remember, anything that looks too good to be true usually is.

Limit the amount and type of identity information you post on social networking sites. Don’t put sensitive, private or confidential information on your public profile.

When shopping online use a secure payment method such as PayPal, BPay, or your credit card. Avoid money transfers and direct debit, as these can be open to abuse. Never send your bank or credit card details via email.

When using a public computer, don’t submit or access any sensitive information online. Public computers may have a keystroke logger installed which can capture your password, credit card number and bank details.

/ENDS.

Please contact:

Lisa Brewster: Media Relations media@mycra.com.au Ph 3124 7133

Graham Doessel: CEO Ph 3124 7133

246 Stafford Road, STAFFORD QLD.

MyCRA Credit Repairs is Australia’s leader in credit rating repairs. We permanently remove defaults from credit files.

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http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/News%20Article%20List/2012/01/Connecting%20generations%20and%20educating%20each%20other.aspx http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/police-warn-of-sophisticated-plan-to-steal-identities-20111108-1n5l8.html#ixzz1dB4ctHcT
http://www.staysmartonline.gov.au/teens

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06/11/2012
TMI – 5 things all young people should know about privacy, social networking and credit.

If you didn’t have Facebook or Twitter – you’d be lost right? It’s a great way to keep in touch with friends– and sometimes it’s more convenient and quicker than a phone call. But if you don’t keep your personal information secure from outsiders while you use it– you could be keeping in touch with all the wrong people. There’s weirdos out there trolling the internet looking for the stuff you openly post – even people looking to commit identity theft with your info. We show you how the mistakes you make with your privacy now could lead to being unable to get a phone, a home, a car in the future because of a surprise bad credit rating.

This information was put together for Privacy Awareness Week 29 April to 5 May 2012 and is all about promoting awareness of privacy rights and responsibilities in the community. The theme this year is “How to Protect Personal Information While Engaging With Social Media” with a focus on secondary school students, parents and teachers. If you are not a student but you know one, flick them this link or print this page. We want all young Australians to have the luxury of a clear credit rating when they turn 18 and beyond.

By Graham Doessel Founder and CEO of MyCRA Credit Repairs and www.fixmybadcredit.com.au.

1. Fraudsters are looking for your personal information.

They are looking to take it and use it for purposes of constructing a fake identity. Identity theft victims are not always ‘gullible’ as people might imagine. They are ordinary people. Many experts say it is not a matter of if you experience an identity theft attempt, but when. It is estimated one in six Australians may have been a victim or know someone who is a victim of identity theft.

It can happen to you when someone you know obtains identity documents or credit card details to impersonate you. Or more and more it comes from professional fraudsters whose main occupation is to steal personal information and financial details in order to commit fraud.

The internet is a big source of personal information and its ever increasing use makes you more at risk of identity crime than ever. This means identity crime can have very long arms – often it originates from overseas crime syndicates. Identity theft is increasing because the pay-offs are huge for criminals. It is estimated identity crime costs Australians $1 billion a year.

2. Criminals are after information they can use to steal your identity.

Criminals are looking for anything they can use to piece together enough information in order to construct a fake identity. Much of the information people post on Facebook or other Social Networking sites can be very good building blocks for identity thieves. They are taking snippets here and there and building a profile on people. They may know your name and they may also know where you live, or where you go to school, your pet’s names, your birthday, even your other family name which could be identified as your mother’s maiden name.

All this is very handy information that is not only used to identify you, but may be used in passwords. After a little while, they have enough information to go about asking for replacement copies of driver’s licences, photo identification – whatever type of identification they have suitable information for. Then they can attempt to take out credit in your name. Some people have even had houses purchased in their names. Often it’s not until you go and take out credit and the bank says: “NO WAY look at all these defaults against your name!” that you may realise you have been struck by identity theft. The thing is, they are using your name so you are the one that ends up with the bad credit rating, and it can be a nightmare to recover the good credit rating you once had.

3. These Privacy risks apply even if you’re under 18

You might ask – what’s the point of worrying about privacy if you are underage – without a credit rating – there is no danger of identity theft right? Well think again! The fact is – crooks are pretty clever. The information you post today, could come back to haunt you in a big way. There are reports of crooks scanning social networking sites purposely looking for young people for this reason, because they usually have the most open privacy settings. That information is not used right away, but is ‘warehoused’ until the young people turn 18. They can then go on a ‘spending spree’ with the young person’s fake identity and credit. Imagine that, you turn up to buy your first car, and lo and behold you have a mountain of defaults against your name and no idea how it happened.

Besides all this, if you have enough information on your Social Networking right now about your parents you could be putting their credit rating in jeopardy as well.

4. The effects of a bad credit rating from identity theft

Negative listings stay on a person’s credit file for 5 to 7 years, depending on the listing. During the time your credit file is affected most lenders and other credit facilities will refuse you credit. Unless you are able to prove it wasn’t you who took out the credit, you may be stuck with a bad credit rating until you are at least 23 if not 25. You can’t borrow to travel, purchase a home, or even take out a credit card or a mobile phone plan while you credit file has these defaults.

5. What you should do to make sure fraudsters don’t obtain your personal information

One important change you can make right now, is to change the way you use the internet. Keep your passwords and social networking settings as strong as possible.

Here is some information that Stay Smart Online has provided to help young people in Australia today take steps to use social networking safely:

• set your online profile to private and be discerning about who you accept as your ‘friend’
• protect your accounts with strong passwords
• have a different password for each social networking site so that if one password is stolen, not all of your accounts will be at risk
• think before you post – expect that people other than your friends can see the information you post online
• don’t post information that would make you or your family vulnerable – such as your date of birth, address, information about your daily routine, holiday plans, or your children’s schools
• don’t post photos of you or your family and friends that may be inappropriate – or that your family and friends haven’t agreed to being posted
• never click on suspicious links – even if they are from your friends – they may have inadvertently sent them to you
• be wary of strangers – people are not always who they say they are. It’s a good idea to limit the number of people you accept as friends
• always type your social networking website address into your browser or use a bookmark.
• If you suspect any fraudulent use of your identity you should report it to your social networking service provider and your local police.

MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs is proud to be a Partner for Privacy Awareness Week 2012. For more youth resources visit the PAW Website http://www.privacyawarenessweek.org/youth.html.

Image of boy: David Castillo Dominici/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

01/05/2012
Are 177,000 CHILDREN capable of staying safe on Facebook?

Parents…are your children on Facebook? We look at what this could mean for them, for you and for your credit file.

By Graham Doessel, Founder and CEO of MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs and www.fixmybadcredit.com.au.

An alarming statistic was revealed by a leading West Australian newspaper on Sunday on the possible number of WA children on Facebook who were under 13.

The Sunday Times revealed in its article “Facebook offers up 150,000 West Australian kids” Perth Now, March 3, 2012 that the Facebook advertising database claims it can reach more than 170,000 children in WA under the age of 13.

“Facebook allows users access to its database statistics if they’re planning to advertise on their website.

It says advertisers wanting to target young teens in WA could reach an estimated 177,220 users aged 13 or under.

Facebook doesn’t let users sign up unless they claim to be over 13. But users often give away their true age by listing information such as the primary school they attend,” the article says.

This is a global issue. A U.S. Facebook study released in June last year, showed that of the 20 million children on Facebook who actively used the social networking site in the past year, 7.5 million—or more than one-third—were younger than 13 and not supposed to be able to use the site.

“Among young users, more than 5 million were 10 and under, and their accounts were largely unsupervised by their parents,” the report revealed.

It also revealed that one million children on Facebook were harassed, threatened, or subjected to other forms of cyber-bullying in the past year.

So what’s happening with our kids? Are they all accessing Facebook in secret? Or are we simply letting them do it – despite government and even Facebook advice to the contrary?

Apart from the grave dangers of sexual predators and cyber-bullies for our children – we are become more vulnerable to identity theft and being slapped with a bad credit score as a result.

Identity crime is the fastest growing crime in Australia, according to the Australian Crime Commission. It was reported by former Attorney General Robert McLelland’s office last year, that identity theft affects one in six Australians in some way.

It’s time to all get a better understanding of the internet. Those who don’t apply meaningful cyber-security measures at home are putting themselves at risk of identity theft, and simply threatening the family’s good credit rating.

We cannot let our young children have free reign of the computer, regardless of how ‘tech-savvy’ they are.

Here’s what can happen to anyone, let alone children:

We can download viruses, participate in scams, release credit card details and disclose personal information and passwords to criminals which can be used to extract money or take out credit in people’s names.

This can happen through Facebook, it can happen via email, and it can happen via very legitimate looking websites.

If millions of Australian parents have been fooled, what chance do these 177,000 children under 13 have? That’s what the cyber-crooks are banking on.

Don’t know the first thing about the internet? If your child does – you need to get to know about it!

The amount of personal information that many young people have freely available for viewing on Facebook is frightening. That can be information about them, or it can also be about friends and family.

We may say it is harmless, but what’s to say fraudsters can’t sit on that information and wait until their victims come of age to commit fraud in their name? In fact, authorities say it is happening – they even have a name, it’s called ‘data warehousing’.

Superintendant Brian Hay from the Queensland Fraud Squad told Channel 7’s Sunrise Program in October last year, that criminals were targeting the personal information of our young Facebook users. and storing the personal information until they turn 18.

“We know that the crooks have been data warehousing identity information, we know that they’ve been building search engines to profile and build identities,” he told Sunrise.

Most identity theft victims have no idea they have given away personal information to fraudsters until it is too late. If identity fraud sees accounts in the victim’s name going undetected and unpaid past 60 days, the parent’s credit file can be ruined for 5-7 years due to defaults.

It need not be major fraud to be a massive blow to the identity theft victim – leading to a bad credit score. Unpaid accounts for as little as $100 can lead to a bad credit score and have the same impact on getting a loan. So any misuse of someone’s credit file can be extremely significant.

For parents who want to educate themselves about the risks of cyber-crime, the Government has put together the CyberSmart website, encouraging parents and kids to be aware of the dangers the internet may pose for children. A Cyber Smart fact-sheet for this age group recommends the close monitoring of all children’s internet use.

And importantly, if young people of any age are on Facebook, educate them and yourself about what that could mean for them and for you.

If people suspect identity theft has affected their credit file, they can contact MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs www.mycra.com.au or call tollfree on 1300 667 218 for help restoring their good name and clearing their bad credit score following identity theft.

Image: Clare Bloomfield / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image: Ambro/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

06/03/2012
Safer Internet Day February 7 2012: be cyber-smart for a future clear credit file

How to be cybersmart – that’s an important topic. On February 7, Australians have the opportunity to raise awareness as to how children and parents alike can be smart on the internet. This is essential for many reasons, one of which is to preserve our personal information, our financial identities and our clear credit file. Cyber-smart are hosting ‘Safer Internet Day’ with this year’s theme, ‘connecting generations and educating each other’, focusing on promoting a dialogue on online safety amongst all generations.

By Graham Doessel, Founder and CEO of MyCRA Credit Repairs and www.fixmybadcredit.com.au.

Cybersmart’s key messages for schools, libraries and families this Safer Internet Day are:
•Talk about online safety—with all members of your family and school community
•Protect Your Privacy—check your privacy settings and update your software
•Educate yourself about the online world—check out the Cybersmart resources.

How can a young person’s clear credit file be put at risk from their internet use?

Our young people need to be cyber-smart and also, young people need to be credit-savvy to get along in this modern world.

One issue we wish to highlight to help young people stay smart online is for them to be aware of the ways in which they can be putting their clear credit file at risk every time they post information publicly on the internet, even before they are credit-active.

It’s unfortunate that teenagers in Australia today are not immune to identity fraud. Even though they are not yet 18, the personal information that is made public today could be used against them in the future.

Many teenagers do not know the risks of having a public ‘profile’ on sites like Facebook and Twitter, but fraudsters do. With the volume of personal information that is publicly available about our young people on social network sites, what’s to say fraudsters can’t pull that information and use it to build a profile that could allow them to create a fake identity?

A young person who becomes the vicitm of identity theft could have their clear credit file ruined for five years. They may not even get a chance to get a mobile phone or take out a credit card themselves.

Late last year, the Australian Federal Police’s national co-ordinator of identity security strike team, Ben McQuillan spoke about the dangers of identity crime at a forum on money laundering and terrorism.

He warned forum listeners about the new trend of ‘data warehousing’ which involves storing data for a time, making it harder for a victim or bank to trace where and when the data was stolen.

”If people know your full name, your date of birth, where you went to school and other lifestyle issues, and they were to warehouse that data, there is a prospect that could then be used to take out loans or credit cards or to create a bank account that could then be used to launder money,” Mr McQuillan told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Identity theft is not only about the initial loss of monies, but if the fraud amounts to credit accounts in the young victim’s name going undetected and unpaid past 60 days, creditors will issue defaults. It need not be major fraud to have a detrimental effect to the young person’s clear credit file. Credit file defaults for as little as $100 can stop someone from being able to obtain credit. So any misuse of someone’s credit file can be extremely significant.

Repairing bad credit, even following identity theft is not easy. The onus is on the victim to prove to creditors they didn’t initiate the credit. The fact that the perpetrator is long gone and the actual act of identity theft happened years earlier will only add to the difficulty for the young person in recovering their clear credit file.

Experts recommend parents and young people continue to update their skills on how to be cyber-smart.

The government’s ‘stay smart online’ website offers some top tips about using the internet which can be discussed with young people at home and school:

Top tips

Make sure your computer is secure—follow the advice in the Secure your computer section of this [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][stay smart online] website.

Set strong passwords, particularly for important online accounts and change them regularly—consider making a diary entry to remind yourself.

Stop and think before you share any personal or financial information—about you, your friends or family. Don’t disclose identity information (drivers licence, Medicare No, birth date, address) through email or online unless you have initiated the contact and you know the other person involved.

Don’t give your email address out without needing to. Think about why you are providing it, what the benefit is for you and whether it will mean you are sent emails you don’t want.

Be very suspicious of emails from people you don’t know, particularly if they promise you money, good health or a solution to all your problems. The same applies for websites. Remember, anything that looks too good to be true usually is.

Limit the amount and type of identity information you post on social networking sites. Don’t put sensitive, private or confidential information on your public profile.

When shopping online use a secure payment method such as PayPal, BPay, or your credit card. Avoid money transfers and direct debit, as these can be open to abuse. Never send your bank or credit card details via email.

When using a public computer, don’t submit or access any sensitive information online. Public computers may have a keystroke logger installed which can capture your password, credit card number and bank details.

We encourage anyone who is interested in protecting their identity and their clear credit file whilst online to visit the stay smart online website regularly, and if people have children, the Cybersmart website is essential reading for both the young person and parent.

Get involved in the Safer Internet Day, and help educate someone you know about online safety.

If you require further information about maintaining a clear credit file or repairing bad credit, visit our main site www.mycra.com.au or call us tollfree on 1300 667 218.

Image: imagerymajestic/ FreeDigitalphotos.net[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

02/02/2012
Identity criminals harvesting data on our children

Media Release

10 November 2011

Police are concerned identity criminals may turn to targeting the Facebook accounts of children, storing their readily available personal information until they come of age.

They confirm ‘warehousing data’ is a new trend amongst identity criminals, and warn personal information could be stored and used to set up fake identity documents when the child turns 18, which would allow fraudsters to take out credit in their name.

A national credit repairer cautions this could leave the newly credit active young person blacklisted from credit well into their 20’s.

“The amount of personal information that many young people have freely available for viewing on Facebook is frightening. These young people don’t grasp that the information they are posting now, can come back to haunt them later – if that information is stored and misused, their lives can be turned upside down – for 5 years they are locked out of credit, refused cards, loans, even mobile phones,” Director of MyCRA Credit Rating Repairs, Graham Doessel says.

The Australian Federal Police’s national co-ordinator of identity security strike team, Ben McQuillan spoke about the dangers of identity crime on Tuesday at a forum in Sydney on money laundering and terrorism.

He warned listeners about the new trend of ‘warehousing’ which involves storing data for a time, making it harder for a victim or bank to trace where and when the data was stolen.

”If people know your full name, your date of birth, where you went to school and other lifestyle issues, and they were to warehouse that data, there is a prospect that could then be used to take out loans or credit cards or to create a bank account that could then be used to launder money,” Mr McQuillan told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Mr Doessel says identity theft is not only about the initial loss of monies, but if the fraud amounts to credit accounts in the victim’s name going undetected and unpaid past 60 days, a person’s credit file can be ruined for 5 years due to defaults.

“It need not be major fraud to be a massive blow to the identity theft victim. Unpaid accounts for as little as $100 can have the same negative impact on someone’s ability to obtain credit as a missed mortgage payment. So any misuse of someone’s credit file can be extremely significant,” he says.

Proving the case of identity theft when attempting to recover a clear credit rating can be difficult for the individual to undertake, as Mr Doessel says the onus is on the victim to prove to creditors they didn’t initiate the credit.

“The fact that the perpetrator is long gone and the actual act of identity theft happened years earlier will only add to that difficulty,” he says.

Identity theft and subsequent fraud has become rampant worldwide. A survey commissioned by the Attorney-General’s office in July showed 1 in 6 Australians had been or knew someone who had been the victim of identity theft or misuse.

The survey also revealed that the majority of identity theft or misuse occurred over the Internet (58 per cent).

A U.S. study released earlier this year, revealed some alarming statistics about Facebook. Of the 20 million minors who actively used Facebook in the past year, 7.5 million—or more than one-third—were younger than 13 and not supposed to be able to use the site.

It also revealed that one million children were harassed, threatened, or subjected to other forms of cyber-bullying on Facebook in the past year.

“Clearly, using Facebook presents children and their friends and families with safety, security, and privacy risks,” the report said.

Mr Doessel recommends parents take an active role in their child’s computer use. He recommends parents and children engage in what information is being provided quite publicly on social networking sites:

1. Keep Privacy settings high, browse in a secure web browser, which should begin with https: and set profile to ‘Friends only’.
2. Don’t post personally identifiable information such as full name, date of birth, phone number, and address.
3. Do not add friends you don’t know. They could be gathering information about you or spreading viruses.
4. Be careful about clicking on links – even if they come from friends. Many posts contain viruses which can spread through your whole friends list, or links to sites which require you to enter personal information.
5. Parents and children should sign up to the government’s StaySmartOnline’s alert system www.staysmartonline.gov.au , which provides many tips for safe social networking.

If people are concerned their information may already have been compromised, they should contact authorities. For those who are credit active, they should check their credit file immediately, which could bring up any inconsistencies.

A credit report is free once a year, and can be obtained from one or more of Australia’s credit reporting agencies.

Any change in contact details, or strange new credit enquiries which show up on the report could mean that the person’s credit file is being misused.

“If there are defaults on the victim’s credit file, they can instil the help of a credit repairer who can work within the legislation to negotiate with creditors and restore the clear credit rating,” Mr Doessel says.

/ENDS.

Please contact:

Lisa Brewster – Media Relations media@mycra.com.au

http://www.mycra.com.au/ 246 Stafford Road, STAFFORD QLD. Ph: 07 3124 7133

MyCRA Credit Repairs is Australia’s leader in credit rating repairs. We permanently remove defaults from credit files.

Links:
1.http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/police-warn-of-sophisticated-plan-to-steal-identities-20111108-1n5l8.html#ixzz1dB4ctHcT
2.http://www.ag.gov.au/www/ministers/mcclelland.nsf/Page/MediaReleases_2011_ThirdQuarter_3July2011-Newresearchshowsidentitytheftaffectsoneinsixpeople
3.http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2011/june/electronics-computers/state-of-the-net/facebook-concerns/index.htm

Image: Clare Bloomfield / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

08/12/2011
Facebook users should be wary of new Timeline feature

Security of people’s personal information on Facebook is again under the spotlight since the announcement of Facebook’s new ‘Timeline’ feature which tracks the digital history of its users, charting their online activity.

And in a shock revelation today Australian technologist, Nik Cubrilovic has revealed this tracking actually continues even after the user has logged out. Cubrilovic says tests he has conducted show that:

“when users log out of Facebook, rather than deleting its tracking cookies, the site merely modifies them, maintaining account information and other unique tokens that can be used to identify users,” his blog says.

An article in The Australian last week titled Every click you make, Facebook tracker will be watching you featured Australian Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim. He issued a warning to consumers on about the introduction of this new feature, and its privacy implications.

“I would strongly encourage people using social networking sites to make sure they know what information may be made publicly available on that site and to think carefully about the information they are sharing and who might have access to it,” Mr Pilgrim said.

With the new information that has come to light today, it would seem even more important for Facebook users to exercise caution around this new system.

The discovery is featured in The Sydney Morning Herald’s story Facebook tracks you even after logging out. The article quotes David Vaile, executive director of UNSW’s Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre. He says Facebook’s changes were a ”breathtaking and audacious grab for whole life data”. In an email interview he accused the social networking site of attempting to ”normalise gross and unsafe overexposure”.

”While initially opt-in, the default then seems to be expose everything, and Facebook have form in the past for lowering protection after people get used to a certain level of initial protection – bait and switch,” he said.

Cubrilovic says he has been sitting on this information for over a year, despite notifying Facebook of his discovery at the time. He says the recent introduction and media coverage of the Timeline feature has prompted him to reveal his findings.

Although there has been no ‘official’ response to media to date in response to the issue, a couple of engineers who work for Facebook have denied allegations they track cookies.

“I am a Facebook engineer that works on these systems and I wanted to say that the logged out cookies are used for safety and protection including: identifying spammers and phishers, detecting when somebody unauthorized is trying to access your account, helping you get back into your account if you get hacked, disabling registration for a under-age users who try to re-register with a different birthdate, powering account security features such as 2nd factor login approvals and notification, and identifying shared computers to discourage the use of “keep me logged in.”

Also please know that also when you’re logged in (or out) we don’t use our cookies to track you on social plugins to target ads or sell your information to third parties. I’ve heard from so many that what we do is to share or sell your data, and that is just not true. We use your logged in cookies to personalize (show you what your friends liked), to help maintain and improve what we do, or for safety and protection,” the engineer writes to Emil Protalinski for ZD Net.

Identity theft can be devastating for the victim, and many times they face an uphill battle with their credit rating following it. If the crime is sophisticated – the virtual stealing of someone’s good name can go undetected for a significant time. Often it is not until the victim applies for credit somewhere and is refused that they realise their personal information has been stolen and identity fraud has been committed against them. People may have credit applications as a minimum and possibly defaults, mortgages and mobile phones attributed to them incorrectly.

Once any account remains unpaid past 60 days, the debt may be listed by the creditor as a default on a person’s credit file. Under current Australian legislation, defaults remain listed on the victim’s credit file for a 5 year period.

What is not widely known is how difficult recovery from identity theft can be. Unfortunately there is no guarantee defaults can be removed from a person’s credit file. The onus is on the identity theft victim to prove to creditors they didn’t initiate the debts in order to succeed with the credit repair. But for the victim who is virtually robbed of their financial freedom, it is a point worth fighting for.

Signs which may alert people to possible identity theft:

– Money missing from bank account/s
– Suspicious entries on credit card statements or bank statements.
– Statements for strange accounts.
– Missing mail such as bank statements or Centrelink statements.
– Credit refused somewhere.
– Mail about new credit applications.

For more information on identity theft, or for help with credit repair following identity theft, visit the MyCRA Credit Repairs website.

Image: jscreationzs/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

26/09/2011
Is Facebook’s face recognition putting your privacy at risk?

German officials have been quick to protect citizens against possible invasions of privacy and identity theft . Last week they met with Facebook to demand policy change to its biometric function.

Facebook agreed to a voluntary code of conduct to protect its users’ data. The issue was over Facebook’s facial recognition function, which it has been using since December last year. The function catalogues the faces of users, making ‘tag’ suggestions automatically.

Technology commentators CIO published the story ‘Facebook bows to stricter German culture’:

“A few weeks ago, the State of Schleswig-Holstein had ordered all state sites to remove Facebook’s “like” button, and threatened to impose hefty fines on those that didn’t. It said Facebook builds profiles of users and non-users alike with the “like” button’s data, which violates German law.
And in early August the head of the German data protection authority asked Facebook to disable its facial recognition feature and argued that facial recognition amounts to unauthorized data collection on individuals.

“It’s obvious that this makes people very nervous when it comes to privacy,” said Carsten Casper, a Gartner privacy analyst, reports the BBC.

The code of conduct agreement was announced after Richard Allan, Facebook’s director of European public policy, met last week with Germany’s Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich in Berlin and a state parliamentary committee in Kiel, according to ZDNet.

“With Facebook’s willingness to sign up for this self-regulation … the debate over the extent to which German data protection law applies to Facebook has been considerably defused,” the Interior Ministry said, according to German news website The Local.

What is interesting, is that no other countries have found this function to be a threat to privacy. Or the framework of privacy laws in other countries may not exist to prevent its use.

Back in June there were concerns over the potential privacy dangers of the introduction of face recognition technology to Facebook. This comes from an article from The Wall Street Journal for The Australian:

The technology also raises concerns that Facebook has built a potentially sensitive database of its more than 600 million users based on their facial characteristics, even as other tech titans such as Google say they’ve stopped short of adding facial recognition to some of their services.

“Facebook users thought they were simply tagging their friends. Turns out Facebook was building an image profile database to automate online identification,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Centre, a privacy group based in Washington.

In a statement, Facebook said it “should have been more clear with people during the roll-out process when this became available to them.”

Personal information is a valuable commodity these days. The Australian Crime Commission cites identity theft as the fastest growing crime in Australia and much of it is about profile building and data gathering in order to commit identity fraud against unknowing victims, often in other countries.

And it is ordinary people that are most at risk of identity theft and a subsequent bad credit rating. Commentator Stilgherrian recently shared these insights into identity theft:

Or, in the case of identity theft, when someone takes out $50,000 of loans in your name? That happens through the gradual accumulation of personal data. Your name and email address from a list stolen from a hacked website, cross-matched with your street address from another, your date of birth from a third, and so on.

These databases can contain millions of people’s details. They’re traded in shady online markets where people buy the pieces missing from the databases they already have, merge them, refine them, mark ‘em up and sell ‘em on until eventually there’s enough to turn it all into a credit application. It’s then laundered though “money mules”, people recruited in the belief they’re making money at home with just a computer.

Is facial recognition just the missing piece of the puzzle scammers need to completely annihilate their victims’ lives?

How to avoid identity theft

Public education can go a long way to lessening the instances of identity theft. The Government’s Stay Smart Online website recommends Australians follow these 8 top tips for increasing their resistance to identity fraud, and avoiding the loss to their bank balance and potentially their good credit rating:

1. Install and renew your security software and set it to scan regularly.
2. Turn on automatic updates on all your software, including
your operating system and other applications.
3. Think carefully before you click on links or attachments, particularly in emails and on social networking sites.
4. Regularly adjust your privacy settings on social networking sites.
5. Report or talk to someone about anything online that makes you feel uncomfortable or threatened – download the government’s Cybersafety Help Button.
6. Stop and think before you post any photos or financial or personal information about yourself, your friends or family.
7. Use strong passwords and change them at least twice a year.
8. Talk within your family about good online safety.

Where to go for help following identity theft

Sometimes unravelling the tangled ‘web’ of online identity fraud for the purposes of negotiating with creditors to restore someone’s good credit rating is a minefield that many individuals have neither the time nor the skill set for.

Credit repairers are more commonly involved in assisting people in cases of identity fraud due to a better knowledge of legislation and ability to work within it when negotiating with creditors over the victim’s financial future and to clear their credit file.

For more information on identity theft and help with clearing your credit file, contact MyCRA Credit Repairs or call tollfree 1300 667 218.

Image: Salvatore Vuono/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

15/09/2011
Is your child’s internet use putting your credit rating at risk?

Media Release

18 July 2011

Parents who allow children and young adults to have free reign of the computer, and who don’t apply meaningful cyber-security measures at home are putting themselves at risk of identity theft, and threatening the family’s good credit rating, a national credit rating repairer warns.

Director of MyCRA Credit Repairs, Graham Doessel says experience is showing us it is not enough for people to simply download anti-virus software and assume they are protected against identity theft.

“Every day there’s more and more reported cases of identity theft via the cyber-world, with criminals gaining access to personal information online, in order to commit identity fraud in the victim’s name.”

“While the internet is an essential tool for children to be competent with, parents have to be realistic about what kind of protection they are affording their family when they allow the control of the family computer to rest solely with their child,” he says.

Mr Doessel says the dangers of children downloading viruses, participating in scams, releasing credit card details and disclosing personal information and passwords to criminals can all be minimised by parents taking an active role in their child’s internet use, and constantly updating their own cyber-awareness.

“Gone are the days of people joking about how their children’s knowledge of the internet has surpassed their own – the scary fact is it’s happened. The threat of criminals taking advantage of a parent’s lack of expertise is real, and people should do all they can to stay ahead of what is becoming the fastest growing crime in the country,” he says.

A U.S. study released earlier this year, showed that of the 20 million minors who actively used the social networking site ‘Facebook’ in the past year, 7.5 million—or more than one-third—were younger than 13 and not supposed to be able to use the site.

“Among young users, more than 5 million were 10 and under, and their accounts were largely unsupervised by their parents,” the report revealed.

It also revealed that one million children were harassed, threatened, or subjected to other forms of cyber-bullying on Facebook in the past year.

“Clearly, using Facebook presents children and their friends and families with safety, security, and privacy risks,” the report said.

Mr Doessel says fraudsters are often extremely good at extracting personal information from adults, so doing the same with children would be a walk in the park.

“The amount of personal information that many young people have freely available for viewing on Facebook is frightening. We may say it is harmless, but what’s to say fraudsters can’t sit on that information and wait until their victims come of age to commit fraud in their name?”

“Other parents alarmingly give over their credit card details to their children to use when downloading music or games, or use the same passwords for ITunes that they may use for their bank accounts. This information in the wrong hands can see someone taking out credit in the victim’s name, and completely destroying their financial future” he says.

Mr Doessel says a major downfall to being an identity theft victim is not only the initial loss of monies, but if the fraud sees accounts in the victim’s name going undetected and unpaid past 60 days, a person’s credit file can be ruined for 5-7 years due to defaults.

“It need not be major fraud to be a massive blow to the identity theft victim. Unpaid accounts for as little as $100 can have the same negative impact on someone’s ability to obtain credit as a missed mortgage payment. So any misuse of someone’s credit file can be extremely significant,” he says.

For parents who want to educate themselves about the risks of cyber-crime, the Government has put together the CyberSmart website, encouraging parents and kids to be aware of the dangers the internet may pose for children.

The Government recommends the close monitoring of all children’s internet use. Some of the other recommendations it makes include:

– Be aware of and involved in children’s internet use. Bookmark a list of ‘favourites’ for them. Encourage children to share new websites and explore together. Assist them whenever they need to disclose personal information.

– Talk to children about personal information and why it is special.

– Consider creating a family ‘fun’ email account separate from all other accounts for the child’s use. This way it can be deleted if misused.

– Consider using filters, labels and safe zones to manage children’s

– Install and update anti-virus and other e-security software to restrict unauthorised access to data on the home computer and protect that data from corruption. Turn firewall on, set computer to automatic scan and update regularly.

If people suspect identity theft has affected their credit file, they can contact MyCRA Credit Repairs www.mycra.com.au for help with obtaining a copy of their credit report, and removing any discrepancies from their credit file.

/ENDS

Please contact:

Lisa Brewster – Media Relations
Mob: 0450 554 007 media@mycra.com.au

Graham Doessel – Director

Ph: 07 3124 7133

http://www.mycra.com.au

MyCRA Credit Repairs is Australia’s leader in credit rating repairs. We permanently remove defaults from credit files.

Links:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazinearchive/2011/june/electronics-computers/state-of-the-net/facebook-concerns/index.htm

http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/

http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/Parents/Cybersafety%20issues/Protecting%20personal%20information/Identity%20theft.aspx

Image: Picture Youth / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

21/07/2011